Lewis Hamilton survives collision to win fourth Formula One world title

Updated 1936 GMT (0336 HKT) October 30, 2017

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Photos:The story of the 2017 season ...

Vettel vs. Hamilton – Lewis Hamilton (left) and Sebastian Vettel have been battling on track all season. Click through the gallery to see how the 2017 Formula One season has played out.

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Photos:The story of the 2017 season ...

Melbourne: First blood to Vettel – The German took the checkered flag at the season opener in Melbourne leaving Hamilton and the Briton's new Mercedes teammate -- Valtteri Bottas -- trailing in his wake.

Shanghai: Hamilton fights back – Hamilton pats his Mercedes car after it propelled him to victory at the Shanghai International Circuit. It was his fifth career win in China and saw the Briton draw level on points with Vettel who came home second. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third.

Sakhir: Vettel shines under the lights – Vettel prevailed in Bahrain after Bottas had claimed a maiden pole in qualifying. During the race Hamilton was handed a five-second stop-go penalty for holding up Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in the pit lane. Vettel took full advantage eventually cruising to a comfortable win.

Sochi: Bottas scores maiden win – After claiming a first-ever pole in Bahrain, Bottas (far right) soared to a maiden F1 victory at the Russian Grand Prix. A fast start enabled the Finn to overtake the two Ferraris at the front of the grid. Vettel chased Bottas hard all the way to the line to claim second. Hamilton finished fourth.

Barcelona: Hamilton reigns in Spain – After missing out on a podium in Russia, Hamilton roared back to the top step at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Briton was overtaken by Vettel at the start but Hamilton fought back, dramatically overtaking his title rival later in the race to take the checkered flag. Red Bull's Ricciardo took third -- his first podium of the season after Bottas suffered an engine failure.

Monte Carlo: Vettel takes third win of season – Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first pole in nine years at Saturday's qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix but it was the German who prevailed in the race after the Finn had led in the early stages. Vettel assumed the lead after pitting slightly later than the Finn and never looked back. Ricciardo finished third with Bottas fourth. Hamilton, meanwhile, who had started 13th on the grid, finished the race in sixth.

Montreal: Hamilton cuts Vettel's lead – After a disappointing showing at Monaco, Hamilton produced a driving masterclass in Montreal. In qualifying, he took his 65th career pole -- equaling Ayrton Senna's mark -- before bossing the race, crossing the line 20 seconds ahead of teammate Bottas while Ricciardo pipped Vettel to third.

Baku: Stroll makes history as title rivals clash – A chaotic race in Azerbaijan saw both Vettel and Hamilton miss the podium for the first time in 2017. The pair clashed on track during a Safety Car period from which Ricciardo ultimately profited. The Aussie's unlikely win was the fifth of his career, while Williams' teenager driver Lance Stroll (right) took third to become the youngest F1 rookie ever to make the podium.

Spielberg: Bottas scores second win – Bottas gave another example of why Mercedes chose him to replace Nico Rosberg at the German team. The Finn dominated the Austrian Grand Prix weekend -- qualifying in pole before keeping Vettel at bay in the race. Hamilton who started from eighth on the grid battled back to fourth.

Silverstone: Hamilton dominates home race – Hamilton was simply unstoppable at the British Grand Prix, qualifying more than half-a-second quicker than the Ferraris before delighting home fans with a commanding win. Both Vettel and teammate Raikkonen suffered punctures late in the race. Raikkonen recovered to finish third, but Vettel could only manage seventh, slashing his championship lead over Hamilton to a single point.

Budapest: Vettel bounces back – Another race, another twist as this time Ferrari took the honors with Vettel leading teammate Raikkonen home, followed by the two Mercedes. Hamilton finished fourth after letting Bottas through for the final podium spot -- the Finn had let the Brit past earlier in what turned out to be an unsuccessful bid to chase down the two Ferraris.

Spa: Hamilton makes F1 history – Hamilton equaled Michael Schumacher's all-time pole record of 68 at the Belgian Grand Prix and then fended off a challenge from Vettel in the final 10 laps to take the checkered flag and his third career victory at Spa Francorchamps.

Monza: Hamilton wins in Ferrari's back yard – After trailing Vettel all season, Hamilton finally got his nose in front in the drivers' championship showing a zen-like composure at the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari, however, had a weekend to forget on home soil. A poor qualifying in wet conditions was followed by a frustrating race. Vettel did squeak onto the podium behind the Mercedes duo, but his title lead had slipped away.

Marina Bay Street Circuit: Ferrari crashes out – Disaster strikes for Ferrari in Singapore as both Vettel and Raikkonen crash out on the opening lap -- Raikkonen hit his teammate after colliding with Max Verstappen at the start. Lewis Hamilton, who started from fifth, avoids trouble and quickly assumes the lead which he holds to the checkered flag. The win, his third at the Singapore GP extends the Briton's lead over Vettel to 28 points.

Sepang International Circuit: Verstappen makes more history – Max Verstappen celebrates after a superb victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver had endured a miserable run of luck in 2017 with seven retirements in the 14 previous grands prix. But any disappointment was banished in Malaysia as he sped to a second career F1 win. The Dutchman, who turned 20 on September 30, was already the youngest-ever F1 race winner. With victory in Malaysia he is now the second youngest winner too.

Lewis Hamilton was a distant second to Verstappen with Daniel Ricciardo finishing third. Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in fourth after starting in last place, which all means that Hamilton extends his championship lead over Vettel to 34 points.

Suzuka: Hamilton closes in on fourth title – Lewis Hamilton took a giant step towards a fourth world title at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Briton led from start to finish to scoop his eighth win of the season while Sebastian Vettel suffered a DNF, limping out with engine issues at the start of the race. The Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed another good weekend, finishing second and third respectively.

Hamilton's victory means he now has a 59-point lead with four races remaining and will clinch the 2017 drivers' championship if he outscores Vettel by 16 points at the US Grand Prix in Austin on October 22.

Circuit of the Americas: Hamilton sprints to victory – Lewis Hamilton wins his fifth race in six grands prix to extend his lead to 66 points over Sebastian Vettel. The German finished second and still has a mathematical chance of winning the 2017 world championship, but Hamilton could wrap up the title at the Mexico Grand Prix on October 29.

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez: Hamilton makes history – Lewis Hamilton wins the 2017 world championship to claim his fourth F1 title. The Mercedes driver finished ninth to secure the two points he needed to guarantee Vettel could not catch him in the last two races. After the two collided at the start of the race, Vettel fought back to eventually finish second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Hamilton was ninth. Verstappen's third F1 win was overshadowed by the towering achievements of Hamilton who became the most successful British driver of all time and only the fifth man in F1 history to win four world championships.

Interlagos: Vettel back to winning ways – Sebastian Vettel hadn't won a race since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. In the intervening period between then and the Mexico Grand Prix, he squandered a 14-point lead and lost sight of Lewis Hamilton as the Briton sped away to a fourth world title. In Brazil, Vettel triumphed once again to record his fifth win of the season and the 47th of his career. Hamilton started the race in last place after crashing out of qualifying early on, but stormed through the field to finish fourth behind Kimi Raikkonen and second-placed Valtteri Bottas.

Story highlights

(CNN)Lewis Hamilton has been crowned the 2017 Formula One world champion -- his fourth title -- despite finishing ninth in what proved to be an intriguing Mexico Grand Prix.

Eventual race winner Max Verstappen's aggressive start in Mexico saw him take the lead from Hamilton's chief title rival Sebastian Vettel on the outside of the first corner, though there was contact between the pair.

So in a bizarre turn of events, after four laps of the race, the two world championship title challengers were last and second last.

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Vettel and Hamilton gradually moved up the field but the German had left himself too much to do to take his world title challenge to the season's penultimate race in Brazil.

"Honestly it doesn't feel real," said Hamilton of winning his fourth F1 title. "It was a horrible way to [clinch the title] to be honest, but what could I do?"

Ahead of Sunday's race, most thought claiming the world championship in Mexico was little more than a formality for Hamilton given his points lead in the drivers' title race, but just to make matters interesting the Mercedes car had struggled for pace in the altitude compared to Vettel's Ferrari in qualifying.

Verstappen had initially broken the track record to take pole position, but a blistering run from Vettel meant he would start from the front of the grid.

It was Vettel's 50th pole of his career, joining Hamilton, Schumacher and Ayrton Senna as the only drivers to reach the half century mark.

Race

In an interview before the race, Verstappen was asked about the start of the Singapore Grand Prix six weeks ago in which he and Vettel collided before the first corner -- putting a huge dent in the German's title hopes -- and whether the same could happen again in Mexico.